Child rapist leads legal bid to end slopping out

The Prison Service is fighting a legal challenge which could force the Government to spend millions of pounds upgrading old jails.

A convicted child rapist, Roger Gleaves, claims the lack of an in-cell toilet is a breach of his human rights and has taken his case to the High Court in London. Slopping out was officially abolished in 1996, but a watchdog warned last year that 2,000 cells in 10 prisons still had no in-cell sanitation, and the practice of using a bucket at night continues.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "The National Offender Management Service is robustly defending the claims."

Dr Peter Selby, president of the Independent Monitoring Boards, said prisoners were still "subjected to something that is a threat to health and dignity".

Gleaves, who served at Albany prison on the Isle of Wight, was sentenced to 15 years in 1998 after being convicted of raping two 14-year-old boys. He is bringing his lawsuit with two other ex-inmates from Albany. The case is set to begin at the High Court in London on 14 November. PA